Hack Slash Halloween
by Jinxgirl
Summary: Cassie takes Vlad trick or treating for the first time.


"Hrrr…and you are sure, Cassandra?"

Cassandra Hack heaved a sigh, her darkly lined eyes rolling up towards the star-speckled sky. Her tone long-suffering, she reassured her friend for the third time.

"Yes, Vlad, I'm sure."

"I walk up to the people's house…and they will not be scared?" he said doubtfully, his broad, bulging forehead creased with a frown of concern. "They will not scream or call for the po-ho?"

"Okay, first off, it's po-po, not po-ho," Cassie informed him, one eyebrow arched. "I don't know what Youtube videos ou've been watching, but you are not a person who can get away with calling the police the po-po, just so you get that much straight. Second off, yes, I've already told you, yes. Today is the one and only day that you, Vlad, can walk up to anyone's house that you want to and expect them to greet you with a smile."

"And…and they will give me candy?" Vlad persisted, still not quite seeming to comprehend this. "They will smile, and tell me "try my treats," and give me candy? I don't know about this, Cassandra. It doesn't seem right. Are you sure-"

"Trick or treat, Vlad, not try my treats," Cassie groaned. She raked a gloved hand through her hair, picking absently at a chipped black fingernail. "And I told you, yes, for the last time, yes. But if you don't want to, if you're really going to turn down free candy, fine, we can get back to the van and have stale corn chips. Again."

Vlad tilted his large head, appearing to be genuinely considering this. When Cassie turned to face him more fully, hands going to her hips as her scowl threatened to grow that much more fierce, he shook his head, giving her a small, lopsided small. With the crooked nature of his mouth, he could form no other.

"Hrrr…I know you are tired of corn chips, Cassandra. I would like candy." He paused, his murky eyes brightening with a new thought. "Do you think they would give me pizza?"

Cassie's darkly lipsticked mouth curved into a small smile in spite of herself. "It's not the tradition, Vlad, but who knows. Could be your lucky night."

"I will do it," Vlad said more decisively, his returning smile much broader than hers. "I will do this tricky treat, Cassandra."

"Trick or treat, it's trick or treat!" Cassie huffed, eyes once more fleeing towards the van's roof. "But fine. That's settled."

She handed him the plastic bag they had used as a makeshift suitcase for the past few days, moving to open the van's sliding door, but Vlad reached out a massive hand, resting it on her shoulder. Large and ungainly as he was, and as frightful as most people found him in size and appearance, he had never touched or treated Cassie with anything but gentleness in touch or speech.

"What about you, Cassandra? Will they smile and give you candy today too?"

Cassie hesitated, unconsciously worrying her lower lip with her teeth. It was true that today would be the one day of the year where she, too, would be accepted for her appearance without question. She, like Vlad, was looking as she always did- but whereas with Vlad, his appearance was something he could not choose, with his twisted, overgrown, and somewhat deformed body and facial features, hers was chosen. Cassie wore her dark, edgy clothing and heavy makeup as a wall from the world, using it as a plain message for them to stay away. Today, it would be regarded less as freaksome and more as a costume of sorts.

For the last time she debated explaining to Vlad exactly why it was that today of all days was different for him, but at the last minute, her love for him- unspoken as she was determined it always be- won out.

"Nah, I'm not in a candy mood, I'll hang back and let you do all the work. Unless they give out cash, then you know that's mine."

Vlad chuckled, giving Cassie's shoulder an affectionate pat that was heavy enough she had to brace her knees from buckling.

"That is a deal, Cassie. Cash is yours and candy is for me."

He eased back to allow her to open the van's door, awkwardly hunching to avoid hitting his head as he followed her outside. The two began to walk together towards the nearby suburbs Cassie had chosen, with an eye for frequent trick or treaters, relatively safe streets, and low likelihood of actual ghouls or slashers joining their midst. Still, she kept her hand reassuringly on the hidden crowbar stashed in her jacket, not letting go of it for one second.

Vlad looked around themselves with widened eyes, his expression lit up with the childlike grin that Cassie secretly loved to observe. For someone with such a difficult beginning and future to his life, Vlad could be so damn happy it would make her sick, if she didn't love him.

"Cassandra…these spider webs on the trees, and the doors, they are huge! Are there perhaps slasher spiders in this area?"

"No, Vlad, it's all fake," Cassie explained patiently, nodding towards the rest. "It's decorations. That's what they do on Halloween. I told you, remember?"

"There are graves on the grass here," Vlad pointed out solemnly, nodding towards the clearly Styrofoam examples. "Do these people…hrr…not have fright of living with the dead?"

"Vlad….again…decoration," Cassie sighed. "Just like those scarecrows and witches and freaky orange lights, and the blow up ghost over there. Not real. Lame, stupid, commercialism. So don't punch them, or talk to them, because you'll end up with jail time, a restraining order, and probably a placement in a hospital where there won't be a straitjacket big enough for your ass."

"But Cassandra, look!" Vlad whispered with genuine alarm, his thick finger jabbing in the direction of a cluster of middle-school aged children walking towards them on the sidewalk. He moved his body in front of hers protectively, tensing as though ready to fight. "Slashers! We must protect those in these homes who do not know the danger!"

"Vlad," she repeated, her voice flat. "Those are kids. Actual kids, not Chucky the doll or Ashley the dream demon kids. Kids in costumes. Pretend clothes. Kids pretending to be ghosts and demons and serial killers. One of them has his mask on backwards, for fuck's sake. Can you just please take it for granted tonight that everything you see is pretend unless I tell you otherwise-"

"Ooooh!" Vlad chortled with such loudness that even Cassie jumped, and the cluster of children he had been concerned over all froze, eyes darting towards him apprehensively. "It is Chippy the squirrel!"

He would have made a mad dash for the toddler dressed as he had identified had Cassie not grabbed onto his arm with both hands, struggling to keep him close.

"Again, Vlad, that's a kid!" she hissed, digging her nails slightly into his skin for emphasis. "Not a cartoon character, a kid dressed up like one. If you go stomping over there, you'll either squash him or send him into a pediatric heart attack."

Taking a breath, feeling a twinge of guilt at the disappointment on Vlad's face, she loosened her grip.

"One more time. You go door to door, knock or ring the bell, you smile, and you say trick or treat. They give you candy, you thank them, and then you walk away. You don't talk to the kids, you don't try to stab anyone, and you don't talk more than you have to. Got it?"

Vlad nodded solemnly, holding up the empty plastic bag as though in evidence.

"I have got it, Cassandra."

She was pretty sure that he meant he had the bag, not her repeated instructions. Still, she couldn't get much better of a guarantee. Instead she followed just closely enough behind Vlad to be able to yank him back and stand in front of him if she needed to, to separate him from horrified citizens- not, of course, that her comparatively small figure would hide him. At the very least, any flashlights or pumpkin buckets thrown in his direction would probably hit her first.

Cassie wasn't a girl who was very easily amused. Still, even she had to fight not to smile, and her lips twitched in rebellion as she watched Vlad's hulking frame meekly get in line with the goggle-eyed children coming to stand in front of the first house's front door. They could have stood all five of the kids on top of each other, shoulder to shoe, and still barely reached up to Vlad's neck.

She could hear them whispering, giving Vlad ample room so as to keep him from accidentally trodding on someone's heel or toes and probably breaking them in the process. More anxious than she wanted to let on to him, Cassie stepped closer, ready to glare into submission any little brat with a negative remark.

The people answering the door were dressed like Raggedy Ann and Andy, a choice Cassie openly sneered at. Why would someone actually choose, not even under threat of death or dismemberment, to put on polka dot clothing and a wig made of a red mop? It was almost as bad as dressing like a clown.

"Oh, what a wonderful group we have here, how very sweet and scary!" Ann wannabe trilled, giving a wide grin that made Cassie immediately want to push her lips closed. "Happy Halloween, boys and girls!"

"Trick treat!" Vlad piped up hopefully, his deep voice drowning out all the hesitant tremolos of the youngsters around him.

Well, he hadn't butchered the line too badly, anyway. No pun intended.

Ann's smile faltered, and she glanced first at her wimpy-looking husband, like he would do anything to defend her if she needed it, before looking back at Vlad with a slightly open mouth. Her returning smile was somewhat more forced.

"Why…why, what a wonderful costume you have here! So…so realistic! The makeup, and, and…are you wearing stilts?" she said with some doubt, her eyes trailing up the length of Vlad's body with some concern. "Well…you do make a very scary monster, very effective! I'm sure you'll win all the contests!"

She dropped a handful of candy bars into Vlad's bag, avoiding making eye contact as she called out again for him to have a good night. Cassie watched, fists clinched, as Vlad shuffled back towards her, holding her breath. She had hoped for soft, blissful glee of a child now in possession of candy; instead, he looked troubled.

"They gave me candy, Cassandra. Just like you said. And they…hrrr…they did not scream."

"Yeah, didn't I tell you?" Cassie answered, trying to keep her voice unconcerned. "That's how things are tonight."

Vlad stared down at the back in his fist, his expression not quite sad, but certainly not holding anything close to the happiness Cassie had hoped to see.

"Hrrr…they do not scream, that is true. But you did not tell me they would still see me as a monster, Cassandra. You did not tell me that."

Fuck. Leave it to Vlad to be the one person in her world that could, with so little words and none of them barbed or cruel in intent, still manage to send a shock of pain into Cassie's heart.

She bit the inside of her cheeks, looking away from him awkwardly as she struggled to defend and explain both.

"Vlad…I can't change that for you. I can change my clothes, my makeup, and maybe people might not think I'm a freak, even though I am-"

"You are not a freak, Cassandra," Vlad interrupted, but Cassie shook her head roughly, stopping him.

"No, I am, fuck it, and I know it. Let me say it. They might not be able to see I'm a freak sometimes, but I still am. It's different for you. You're not anything close to a monster, but that's what people will always see. It isn't fair, Vlad. It isn't fair, and I fucking hate it. I'd take it from you if I could, but I can't, okay? So…I just thought…this is the one night of the year where they see you as a monster, but they accept it, you know? The one night of the year they think it's cool."

She paused, her eyes flicking up towards Vlad's in hopes of seeing his expression change. "And…you know, if nothing else, it's free candy. I figured at least you could get that much out of it."

Disgusted with herself, she shook her head, growling aloud with herself rather than Vlad.

"Fuck it, forget it. I'm a fucking idiot, okay? I fucking suck, this was a stupid idea. Just, let's go rip off a gas station for their candy, okay? You don't have to put up with this shit."

She turned towards the van, her hands shoved into the pockets of her torn jacket, but Vlad's hand stopped her again.

"Free candy is good, Cassandra. And so are smiles, even if they are not for a reason that you like. I think I will keep doing this tricky treat, Cassandra. I will take my candy and my smiles, for tonight."

He waited until Cassandra had turned to face him, patient, the genuine, goofy smile that only Vlad could possess posed her way when she could finally seek it out. Reaching into his nearly empty bag, Vlad drew out one of the three mini Hershey bars inside, handing it to Cassie before she could protest it. Then, walking on, he started to follow the children towards the second house, his candy bag ready and waiting in his hand.

Vlad and his damn candy, Cassie thought to herself, gritting her teeth and huffing under her breath. What the hell would the guy not do for chocolate?

But all the same, one hand unconsciously pressed against her chest as she followed his movements closely. And the hot tears that pricked the backs of her eyes were not from irritation or embarrassment, but from pride.

End


End file.
